Kanye West goes 'American Psycho'

Aisha Harris, Slate

Published
12:00 am EDT, Wednesday, June 19, 2013

In this Monday, May 7, 2012 photo, Kanye West arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit, celebrating Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, in New York. West closed the three-day Governors Ball on New York's Randall's Island with a set that featured his familiar hits as well as a batch of new, darker tracks from his upcoming album. West kicked off his set Sunday night, June 9, 2013, with the song "Black Skinhead," with flashing visuals in the background, including the words "not for sale." He later performed "New Slaves." Both tracks will appear on "Yeezus," his sixth album out June 18. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini) less

In this Monday, May 7, 2012 photo, Kanye West arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit, celebrating Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, in New York. West closed the three-day ... more

Photo: AP

Photo: AP

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

In this Monday, May 7, 2012 photo, Kanye West arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit, celebrating Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, in New York. West closed the three-day Governors Ball on New York's Randall's Island with a set that featured his familiar hits as well as a batch of new, darker tracks from his upcoming album. West kicked off his set Sunday night, June 9, 2013, with the song "Black Skinhead," with flashing visuals in the background, including the words "not for sale." He later performed "New Slaves." Both tracks will appear on "Yeezus," his sixth album out June 18. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini) less

In this Monday, May 7, 2012 photo, Kanye West arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit, celebrating Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, in New York. West closed the three-day ... more

Photo: AP

Kanye West goes 'American Psycho'

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

After his intense appearance on SNL last month, a few impromptu outdoor projections seen around the world, and a bizzarely entertaining New York Times interview, Kanye West finished off his promotion for "Yeezus" with a more puzzling tactic: a nearly shot-for-shot remake of an infamous scene from "American Psycho," starring playboy Scott Disick (Kourtney Kardashian's boyfriend and father to her children) and "Kardashian friend" Jonathan Cheban, as Patrick Bateman and Paul Allen, respectively.

Rather than touting the cultural virtues of Huey Lewis and the News, Bateman, in this version, discusses the genius of West, particularly that of "New Slaves," "the undisputed masterpiece of 'Yeezus.' "

The video complements 'Yeezus' well: West channels Bateman in order to pronounce his greatness, while also poking fun at himself, with Bateman declaring that the rapper "has been compared to Hitler, Jesus, Walt Disney and even Steve Jobs." Unfortunately, Disick's "talents" as a Christian Bale stand-in leave much to be desired. And besides, Weird Al and Huey Lewis himself already did this, and did it much better.